You Don't Know How Much I Hate You
by RippedIntoPieces
Summary: Having to partner Draco Malfoy isn't the easiest thing Harry's had to do. But he's beaten Voldemort, surely he can do this? But dealing with a crazy boss, a partner who hates him, and ministry conspiracies can take its toll on a guy. DM/HP Auror!Fic
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Harry thought that the Auror graduation should have been a slightly bigger celebration, instead of the quiet, drab assembly of people sitting on rows of uncomfortable chairs watching the Auror's being given their badges. He briefly glanced at the Weasley's who were sitting several rows behind him, they smiled at him and Ginny winked when at him, smiling the widest of them all. He shifted on his chair, waiting for his name to be called out, his fingers drumming on the inside of his leg, desperately trying to stay calm.

Hermione was standing with the other graduates, beaming brightly, her badge pinned proudly to her new robes. She wasn't looking at Harry, instead her gaze was directed on Ron, who was looking at her intently, a small smile on his lips. Harry was glad they weren't pulling their usual gooey faces which they usually wore when in public, too busy flirting, snogging or just generally acting in a romantic fashion, as the faces and the behaviour was generally quite embarrassing to anyone around them. His mind drifted to Ginny, and the previous night, where they'd stayed in bed talking about their upcoming wedding, and what married life in general would be like.

His results letter had come a few days previously; he had opened it with shaking fingers, sliding the heavy parchment out of its envelope as carefully as possible. His results had been as good as he had hoped, he'd done well on the defence section, but his paperwork hadn't been as detailed as he'd liked, he'd been out of his depth on several of the questions, even after the months of revision Hermione had put him through. As soon as he verified his pass grade, he'd grabbed Ginny who'd been standing behind him, reading the letter over his shoulder, and pulled her into a passionate kiss, before bending down on one knee and asking her to marry him. As surprising as the sudden development was to Ginny, and to Harry, who hadn't been planning to propose and wasn't the spontaneous type, she agreed without hesitating. He'd immediately jumped to his feet, gave her another kiss before pulling her hastily into the bedroom.

'Draco Malfoy' The man standing with the list of names said in his booming voice, Harry's head shot up, looking to see the silvery-blond standing up and making his way swiftly towards the podium to receive his Auror certificate and badge. Harry was mildly surprised that he'd actually passed the exams; many people had doubted Malfoy's sudden decision to do something 'worthwhile' after he'd signed up for the Auror program; no-one had wanted to work with him, mainly due to his disagreeable temperament, as he'd continued to act in his prejudiced fashion, much like he'd acted during his time at Hogwarts. This irritated many of the Auror apprentices, especially the Muggleborns who weren't particularly pleased with his disbelief that they could actually perform complex magic. He'd been civil enough to Harry, who had spoken to him briefly after the war, when he'd decided to return his wand to its rightful owner; other than that, they'd had no specific contact except in training.

Harry watched as Malfoy walked casually to the other graduates, the smug smile on his pale face irritating Harry slightly, as he was anxious to get his badge and beginning to panic, much like he had waiting for the Sorting Hat to decide his fate, that his letter had been a hoax and that he'd failed his exams completely. Eventually, his name was called out, and he'd walked forward to receive his badge. After joining the others on the other side of the stage, Malfoy turned to him and whispered quietly

'Well done Potter, glad you didn't fail, I like a bit of competition.'

Harry glared at Malfoy, before turning back to the other graduates who were sitting waiting for their names to be called.

Eventually, after Ron's name had been called he lost interest and began staring around the room, dreading the partner announcements which they were to find out after the graduation ceremony. He knew that Head Auror Robard wouldn't partner him with Ron, as he was seemingly unimpressed by Harry's fame, and refused to grant him any favours; instead, he would probably partner him with someone like Malfoy as a way of punishing him for supposedly assuming he would be shown favouritism just because he's 'The Chosen One'. Eventually, the final person had been called out and they were told to stand in front of Auror Robard, to find out who their partner was. Harry was wishing as hard as he could that Robard hadn't been completely vindictive and put him with one of the worst students, or Malfoy.

'Ronald Weasley you'll be partnering with…' Robard lingered, looking directly at Harry and sneering in a way that rivalled Malfoy 'Hermione Granger.' Hermione blushed as Ron winked at her and they walked out of the hall together, hand in hand. Harry watched them go, knowing they were off to 'celebrate', as soon as they'd managed to escape the rest of the Weasley's, glad that he no longer shared a flat with them; something that had been rather awkward before he'd moved in with Ginny. He returned his attention to Robard who had partnered James Matthews, an ex-Hufflepuff who'd completed Hogwarts the year after Harry, Ron and Hermione, with Zachariah Smith, who had somehow become an Auror despite his complete and utter disregard for authority. Harry was relieved he hadn't been partnered with Smith, who still disliked him to some extent, but was beginning to dread that his worst nightmare was to come true. More and more of the graduates had been paired up and eventually it was between him, Malfoy, Seamus Finnegan and Anthony Goldstein. He was fully aware that the vindictive smile on Robard's face was becoming wider as he watched Harry shuffle nervously under his cold stare.

'Potter…you'll be partnering with Mr…Malfoy.' Harry sighed quietly, resigning himself to the fate which was most likely inevitable, 'Make sure you keep his ego level Malfoy, I don't want him going off on a power high.' Harry turned to look at Malfoy, who was already preparing to leave, his cold eyes turned downwards, refusing to meet Harry's gaze. Harry followed after him, expecting Malfoy to complain as soon as he was out the room. However, immediately after they had walked out the doors, Malfoy looked despairingly at Harry, before apparating from sight.

**I've written up to chapter 3 so far, but I would like feedback before I update, just to see if I have any readers. I am aware this is clichéd but I'm hopefully gonna go somewhere with this. **

**So...R & R people if it isn't too much trouble.  
**

**RippedIntoPieces  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello there, thank you for the reviews I received, I have followed up with chapter 2. Chapter 3 has been written, but I am stuck on Ch.4 so there might be a delay as I finish writing up to at least chapter 7 (see, I'm trying to be organised…). **

**Anyway, on with the story, if you can call it that. **

**R&R people**

**RippedIntoPieces **

Chapter 2:

'Seriously Potter, are you still writing that damn report?' Malfoy asked incredulously, watching Harry fill the parchment with his spidery writing, his shoulders hunched and his head down.

'Just because I put detail into my reports rather than the bare necessities so I have time to re-do my hair, doesn't give you the right to mock me.' Harry replied in a bored tone, without looking up from the report, the stinging curse Malfoy had just sent him rebounding and hitting Malfoy's wand arm, he hissed in pain, clutching his arm to his chest. Harry chuckled; it had been a long six weeks.

Harry had learnt that Malfoy was more interested in the action side of being an Auror than the paperwork, which meant that Harry had to bring up the slack when Malfoy couldn't be arsed; he didn't mind particularly, but found it rather irritating when Malfoy mocked him for explaining the crime in the reports, and the ramifications; he was only doing his job.

What he found even more annoying was Malfoy's indignation that Harry's spell work was not up to scratch; when they were patrolling the streets, or on an assignment, Draco often pointed out that Harry was failing to use the right hand movements when he prepared to use even the most basic of spells, and he scorned Harry's inability to perform a large amount of non-verbal spells. Harry had been completely unaware of Malfoy's supposed talent at charms during his Hogwarts years, but now he could see that Draco did have certain flair when it came to difficult magic. This, in Harry's mind, just made him a more formidable opponent, and not an opportune partner; dangerous enough to cause an actual threat to Harry's life if he turned back to his old ways.

'Potter, we've got an assignment to do, if you don't finish your bloody report soon I'll find a new partner and you'll be confined to nothing but paperwork.' Malfoy growled at Harry, his wand held out threateningly.

He finished his sentence and put down his pen, looking up; he smirked at the irked expression on Malfoy's face, _if looks could kill _Harry thought, glaring back at Malfoy with equal ferocity.

'Shall we go then?' He asked, acting impatient, gesturing to the door. Malfoy nodded robotically, still glaring at Harry, who had stood up, grabbed his cloak and was aiming for the door.

Sighing, knowing he'd failed yet again to get Harry even remotely interested in an argument, he followed him out the door and they apparated out of the Atrium.

Using the apparition co-ordinates, Harry and Draco found themselves outside a series of empty brick houses, their windows darkened with a thick layer or grime. The street was empty, the light of the day fast disappearing and the incoming dark covering the corners of the street. Draco wrinkled his nose at the setting, his pale hair contrasting to the gloom of the street.

'Do you know who we're meant to be watching?' Harry asked quietly, checking the street and road in front in case someone was watching them from a distance. Draco brought a report from under his cloak, the paper crumpled after being crushed against his body for the majority of the day.

'Well, according to a witness statement, from one of the witches that hangs round Diagon Alley lusting after various wizards, apparently he's called Andrew Cleveland, a half-blood, 6 foot tall. Has been described as having a chiselled face and er…' Draco squinted at the report 'Dreamy eyes?' He glared at the witness report, the flowing writing dotted with hearts reminded Harry of several of the women who'd sent him love letters in the recent months, 'Typical witch,' Draco seethed, 'Always flirting, even in serious situations…that's not even a proper description!' He coughed slightly, clearly waiting for an opportunity to change the subject, 'Anyway, so rather tall, medium build, striking face and er…short brown hair.' Draco finished lamely, allowing Harry to grab the report and read it himself,

'Hmmmm…suspected of smuggling contraband dark artifacts down Knockturn Alley, an ex-Death Eater, you would happen to know him would you Malfoy?' Harry asked innocently, watching Malfoy's previously calm expression change to one of extreme loathing,

'Shut it Potter, try not to act like as much of a twat as usual…if you can help it.' Draco snapped huffily, turning from Harry and leaning against the wall of the house; determined not to talk to him until their suspect showed up, if he did show up.

'Sorry Malfoy, you know I didn't mean it.' Harry apologised awkwardly, knowing Draco had taken his comment to heart. _He should be used to it by now, _Harry thought, recalling many of the jeers and insults Draco had been sent by people when they'd been on patrol and had been passed by members of the wizarding public. Draco had found it easy to brush off these insults, but clearly, it hurt him more when the people he worked with thought of him in the same way.

They stood in cold silence for the next few hours, Harry glancing at Draco every so often to see if his body language had relaxed, but always found Draco turned away from him, his shoulders tense. Harry was busy thinking about the wedding plans he'd been discussing with Ginny when Draco suddenly burst out with

'So what's the deal with you and the Weaslette? I thought the great Harry Potter wasn't into hero worship.' Draco sneered slightly, taking on his older persona, something Harry recognised from his school years.

'What do you mean?' Harry asked quickly, taken back slightly by the sudden intrusion of the completely unrelated subject.

'Well, I heard from one of the witches on one of the lower floors, that you'd proposed to her. She was rather disappointed, I have to say, I have no idea why…but I was rather curious as to why you've become engaged to the Weasley girl. Is it something like Gryffindor pride? Because I've never understood why you always marry the people you date at school, we Slytherin's like to broaden our horizons. Or do you enjoy having one of your biggest fans around all the time to praise your brilliance?' Draco was eagerly awaiting Harry's reaction, hoping that finally he'd argue back. If Draco was good at one thing, irritating and arguing his fellow peers was it, and as soon as he and Harry came to blows, he could get a new partner.

'Basically, I love her Malfoy, now I realise that isn't an emotion you're accustomed to seeing as you're destined to marry someone of your parents choosing, but I happen to understand it, and that's why I proposed to her. Are you done with your little interrogation now?' Harry asked irritably.

Draco was stunned by Harry's sudden outburst, and at Harry's knowledge of his arranged marriage to Astoria, he was stung slightly by his assumption that Draco didn't understand love; but to an outsider that was probably how his family was viewed.

'Yes, I'm done. Sorry for being curious about your life Potter…I was only asking.' Draco retorted tersely

'Well…' Harry struggled to think of something intelligent to say, 'Just don't' He finished with pathetically.

And with that they returned back to their original silence, purposely staring in opposite directions to avoid even the chance that they might accidentally look at each other.

After another hour, Draco was beginning to get bored, the street was completely dark, and he could just make out Harry's face about a metre away from him. _Annoyingly though_, he thought, _I can't see his expression_,

'Potter.' He addressed the raven haired boy next to him, who stiffened suddenly, obviously dreading another obnoxious conversation with Draco,

'Yes Malfoy?' He asked calmly,

Draco wasn't really sure what he was planning to say, but luckily, at that moment, the suspect apparated in the corner of the street, his cloak swished around him and he began to make his way towards them. His head was down, and in the darkness of the street, it would've been hard to spot Harry and Draco anyway. He was only a short distance away when they caught up to him, standing on either side of the man, prepared to stop him if he tried to apparate or transform.

'Mr Cleveland?' The man looked up, alarmed; as he had not noticed, the two of them sidle next to him.

'Uh…yes?' He asked quietly, fear creeping into his voice

'Hello, I'm Auror Malfoy, and this here is Auror Potter. We have reason to believe that you have been smuggling dark artifacts to people down Knockturn Alley, and unfortunately, we're going to have to bring you in for questioning.' Draco said in a slightly simpering tone.

In the dim light, the man's face might have paled, but as it was, Draco wouldn't have noticed; he was suddenly distracted by the man who had elbowed Draco in the face, causing his head to jerk back sharply, he then sent a quick-moving hex at Harry, its reddish light glowing in the air. Due to the short distance between them, Harry didn't have time to move out of the way of the curses projectile; and he was hit directly in the chest. Draco looked up at the man, whose face was sharp with fear, he stuttered out an apology before apparating directly in front of Draco, who was slightly dazed from the blow to his jaw. He crouched down next to the still form that was Harry.

'_Ennervate.' _He whispered quietly, hoping that Harry had just been hit by a stunning spell; Harry didn't move and Draco began to panic, '_Ennervate.' _He muttered, and still Harry refused to wake up. Draco chewed his lip, _if Potter doesn't wake up…I'll be blamed_, Draco knew that the wizarding society would not take the accidental coma of their Golden Boy well, and no doubt they would blame Draco, because of his ex-Death Eater status.

He gritted his teeth and decided to try the spell once more, he muttered it quietly, unsure whether he had actually said it at all, before he saw the light spill from his wand, lighting up Harry's face. Harry opened his eyes and shot up, fear evident in his eyes; he grabbed Draco, pulling him close. He was muttering incoherently, and Draco clutched at him, forgetting temporarily that they were enemies. Eventually after a few seconds more muttering, Harry seemed to realise where he was and he quickly detached himself from Draco's arms. After a quick apology, he pulled himself to his feet, and Draco followed suite, glad of the dark, as it was hiding his blush. Harry glanced back at Draco,

'Did he get away?' He asked quietly, Draco nodded gravely, before adding a hushed 'yes' in case Potter couldn't see him in the dim light.

'Oh…Robard's gonna have our heads.' Harry groaned his head bowed; he pressed his palms to his eyes and blocked out Draco and the dim street; dreading the Head Auror's reaction to the news that they had failed to catch a simple civilian. Draco didn't like to see this sign of weakness, they had made a mistake, but wallowing in self pity was not something a Malfoy did, and no one who was associated with him should do it either.

'Come on Potter, we've got a criminal to catch.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello there readers, chapter 3 is up as you can see. I haven't finished chapter 4 yet but I have a lot of free-time coming up, and the only thing that will stop me writing is writer's block. Anyway, so enjoy the chapter, then next chapter will be the memories Harry and Draco find in the basin, for some reason it's taking me forever to write. **

**Anyway, please review, I've got loads of people on story alert and yet no-one will review.**

**-sniffles-**

**RippedIntoPieces**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, will never own, however Andrew the OC is **_**mine**_**. **

**-cackles evilly-**

As predicted, Robards was not happy to hear that Harry and Draco had failed to catch a 'simple civilian' as he'd phrased it. He'd already threatened them with paperwork, and Harry had not spent 3 gruelling years working to become an Auror to end up stuck behind a desk. He'd promised the head Auror that the two of them would try their best to catch the criminal. The only problem being that they had no actual way of finding him.

Draco had decided that if they couldn't talk to the man himself, they could at least search his belongings; firstly, to follow ministry procedure and confiscate any remaining dark artifacts that should be confiscated in case they were a danger to the public and secondly to find out who he was, who his friends were and where he would have gone to escape the Ministry.

Harry was perfectly fine with this, as it gave him an opportune moment to delve into work and to ignore the rather awkward night before. He was disgusted to think he'd cried in Draco's arms like a baby, but the spell he'd been shot with had had brought every memory of the war rushing back to him. The months on the run, Sirius, Malfoy Manor, Voldemort, the dead lying on beds in the Great Hall; all of Harry's worst memories had been brought to the front of his mind and turned into a twisted nightmare. He'd woken believing he was once again an inch from death, and now that he had no reason to fear for his life, the idea of dying when everything was finally over, terrified him.

Upon waking up, he'd clung to the first human that was capable of comfort, and it had happened to be Malfoy. Draco had remained silent about the night before, and Harry had assumed he'd stored the memory as blackmail for a later date. Auror's under 'emotional stress' were removed from cases until they could prove that they could work in a morally uncompromised manner. If Harry was removed from work, Draco would either get a new partner or have the ability to work on his own, something Harry knew he was eager to do.

Harry was busy debating whether he should mention the night before to Draco when they arrived at the Mr Cleveland's house with the sun rising over the row of houses and bathing them in pale, watery light. They checked the house for curses, making sure they weren't attacked by any hidden spells that had been placed in the buildings framework.

After checking for a human presence and removing a rather nasty stinging curse which attacked Harry upon realising that, he was trying to enter the property without permission from its owner they entered the house almost unscathed, prepared to search the house and battle any other remaining obstacles.

They entered the man's study, a dark circular room which was lined with grimy, glass cabinets. The room reminded Harry slightly of Dumbledore's study, as he peered into one of the cabinets to see a strange arrangement of spindly objects lying on the shelf. A small glass pendant filled with a substance that looked a lot like blood caught Harry's eye. Intrigued, he reached for the cabinet. He opened the door to the cabinet quietly picking up the pendant, intent on finding out what it was, and whether it was particularly dangerous. He held the pendant in his outstretched palm, he watched as the light of the room glinted in the liquid inside.

'Put it back Potter.' Harry's head snapped up at the voice, as Draco looked at him with a distasteful expression; Harry glanced at Draco, his fingers curled round the pendant, clutching it tightly. He wasn't sure why, but he really wanted to find out what was in the pendant, the thick red liquid that was sloshing around inside it was rather intriguing. He looked Draco head on,

'Why?' Harry asked brazenly

'Because we don't know what it is! And you've already been cursed once this week, we don't need a repeat of events. I know we need clues but messing with unknown objects is not the way to go about it!' Draco snapped furiously, his pale face reddening steadily. Harry put down the pendant hurriedly, afraid of angering the blond any more than he already had. He let his gaze linger on the pendant, the red liquid still glimmering in the dim light before he looked up at Draco to meet the blond boy's stony gaze. He instantly dropped his gaze and instead allowed his eyes roved round the room, they fell on the stone basin hidden in the corner of the room. The pale, eerie light of a pensieve lit up the corner and area surrounding it. Harry smiled slightly; he turned his back to Draco, his smile growing wider.

'On the other hand, we do know what that is.' Harry grinned, gesturing to the pensieve.

-----------------

Draco glared at Harry, who was approaching the pensieve with an impish smile on his face. He rolled his eyes at Potter's childishness, and sighed wearily.

'Indeed Potter, we do know what that is. But why are you so eager to go snooping in a stranger's memories? That's not the usual honourable Gryffindor way is it?' Draco sneered slightly, adopting the 'lecture' pose that Harry had become accustomed to; arms crossed and a scowl covering his face.

'Well, he's not here to stop us is he? And I think we should go ahead and look. We need some clues, and this house is just full of junk,' Harry said inattentively, walking close to the pensieve, pulling his wand from underneath his robes. He swirled the memories about with the end of his wand, the silvery liquid swishing round the stone basin. Draco scowled but made no attempt to stop him; Harry continued to stir the memories around, debating whether to dive straight into the memories and return when he wished, or to watch the memories from the afar. Whilst he stood still, his brow furrowing, Draco moved forward to stand next to Harry; Harry glanced at him and Draco raised his eyebrows slightly, and then directed his gaze at the pensieve.

'Scared Potter?' Draco sneered, quoting his younger self.

'You wish.' Harry said grinning, leaning forward and allowing his head to touch the memories before being sucked into the basin and thrown into the past.


End file.
